
^^-^j^^jgg^i^a^^gg^^r^^^i^i^ga^^;?^?^^ 



OMAS 



i^^ 



With the Compliments oj 



WILLIAM H. LAMBERT. 



Mutual Life Ruilding, 
Philadelphia. 



GEORGE HENRY THOMAS 



ORATION 



BEFORE THE 



Society oe the Army of the Cumberland 

At Rochester N. Y. September 17 1884 



BY 



WILLIAM H. LAMBERT 







PHILADELPHIA 




"884 .^\^,^ 


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SIXTV-FIVE COPIES PRINTED FOR PRIVATE DISTRIBUTION. 



PENNYPACKER & ROGERS, 

PRINTERS. 

1018 CHESTNUT STREET, 

PHILADELPHIA. 



GEORGE H. THOMAS entered the Military 
Academy at West Point on the first day of 
July, 1836. and from that day, until his death, con- 
tinued in the military service of the United States/ 
Upon his orraduation in 1840 he was commis- 
sioned second lieutenant in the Third Artillery. 
His career until the outbreak of the Rebellion 
differed little from that of other army officers of 
equal or proximat? rank. His position as a sub- 
altern of artillery during the war with Mexico 
afforded scant opportunity for distinction, nor was 
any g-reater offered by the years of peace in which 
he attained higher rank ; and at the beginning of 
the Rebellion his name was familiar to but few 
beyond the army and the circle of his friends 
and personal acquaintance. There was, however, 
no peculiarity in this, for the names of almost all 
the officers who subsequendy achieved high rank 
and distinction in the war were as little known as 
his. The brilliance of their later deeds illumined 
the obscurity of their early days, and the heroism 



and fame of the present were seen to be but the 
outcome of the meritorious though inconspicuous 
service of the past. 

Yet his early years were not without evidence 
that he already possessed the qualities which were 
to distinguish his later life, for these were not the 
result of circumstance but inborn, and exhibited 
themselves in proportion to occasion. With the 
limited opportunity afforded him he so conducted 
himself as to merit the approbation of his superior 
officers, the esteem of his associates and the pride 
of his friends. 

He was brevetted first lieutenant for gallantry 
and good conduct in the Florida War upon the 
recommendation of General Worth, who reported 
that Lieutenant Thomas had rendered very efficient 
service, was highly meritorious, and had been the 
strenuous coadjutor of Captain Wade in his impor- 
tant expedition against the Seminoles.^ 

Thomas was appointed first lieutenant on the 30th 
of April, 1844, and was at Fort Moultrie with his 
company E, Third Artillery, then commanded by 
its senior first lieutenant, Braxton Bragg, when the 
threatened hostilities in Texas caused its transfer 
to the Army of Occupation under General Taylor ; 
and with the company was in garrison at Fort 
Brown during its bombardment by the Mexican 
forces. 



5 

In the several conflicts at Monterey battery E 
was actively and hotly engaged, and for his bravery 
there Lieutenant Thomas was mentioned in the re- 
port of his division commander, and brevetted 
. captain. During the second day's engagement, 
Thomas, with a section of the battery, served with 
the Texas volunteers, and by the bold advance and 
efficient management of the gun under his charge, 
and the coolness and deliberation with which he 
retired his piece when ordered to withdraw, elicited 
the special approval of General Henderson, their 
commander.^ 

At Buena Vista "the services of the light artillery, 
always conspicuous, were more than usually distin- 
guished, '"^ justifying the assertion of General Wool 
that "without our artillery we could not have main- 
tained our position a single hour. "'^ Hurried from 
one part of the field to another, by sections or single 
pieces, as exigence demanded, the three batteries 
engaged were effectively handled, and it would 
be difficult to determine which was of the greatest 
service. It was the fortune of Lieutenants OT^rien 
and Thomas, the former with a section of Washing- 
ton's battery, the latter with a single gun of battery 
E — now commanded by \. W. Sherman, Bragg 
having been promoted to a captaincy and assigned 
to battery C of the same regiment — to be stationed 
on the plateau, which was a vital point in the Amer- 



lean position, and against which the final assault of 
the Mexicans was directed. When the enemy's 
powerful column of twelve thousand men emerged 
from the ravine in front, it swept our infantry sup- 
ports from the plateau, and there was absolutely 
nothing to retard its advance but the guns of 
O'Brien and Thomas. Both knew the necessity 
for standing by their pieces, and, though literally 
unsupported, they fell back no faster than the re- 
coil of their guns carried them.^ And though 
O'Brien lost his section, he and Thomas had lonof 
enough impeded the enemy to enable Bragg and 
Sherman to reach the plateau, where they were 
speedily followed by infantry re-enforcements, and 
the assaulting column was finally repulsed. 

Lieutenant Thomas was brevetted major for 
" eallant and meritorious conduct in the battle of 
Buena Vista," and was mentioned in the reports of 
Generals Taylor and Wool.'' Captain Sherman in 
his report of this battle compliments Thomas for his' 
coolness and firmness, and asserts that he "more 
than sustained the reputation he has long enjoyed 
in his reeiment as an accurate and scientific artille- 



rist."^ 



The citizens of Southampton County, Virginia, 
expressed in public meeting, their pride in "the 
military skill, bravery and noble deportment " of 
their "fellow-county-man, George H. Thomas, ex- 



hibited in the campaign of Florida, at Fort Brown, 
Monterey and Buena Vista, in which he has given 
ample proof of the best requisites of a soldier — 
patience, fortitude, firmness and daring intrepidity," 
and presented to him a beautiful sword, as a testi- 
monial of their "high appreciation of his character 
as a citizen and soldier."** 

Thomas attained his captaincy on the 24th of 
December, 1853, and if the army had not been 
augmented by the addition of new regiments, 
appointments in which were authorized to be 
made from civil life and from the army irrespec- 
tive of previous rank, he would still have been a 
captain at the outbreak of the Rebellion. 

Referring to the appointments in the four new 
regiments, two of infantry and two of cavalry, au- 
thorized by the act of Congress, March 3d, 1855, 
Mr. Jefferson Davis, who was then Secretary of 
War, says that he was indebted to Colonel vSamuc 1 
Cooper, the then Adjutant-General, for assistance 
in making the selection from the army of officers 
for appointment in these regiments, and that when 
the list was "submitted to the President, a diffi- 
culty was found to exist, which had not occurred 
either to Colonel Cooper or" to Mr. Davis; "the 
officers selected purely on their military record did 
not constitute a roster conforming to that distribu- 
tion among the different States, which for political 



considerations it was thought desirable to observe ; ' 
that is to say, the number of such officers of South- 
ern birth was found to be disproportionately great." 
The list was therefore revised under instructions 
from the President "and modified in accordance with 
this new element of geographical distribution."^'^ , 

What was the number of Southern officers com- 
prised in the original list of recommendations for 
appointment is not now of record ; if however, it 
exceeded the number on the modified list of ap- 
pointments, the disproportion of Southern men 
must have been exceedingly great. Of the seventy 
officers first appointed to the cavalry regiments, 
forty-two were of Southern birth ; of the eight field- 
officers — Sumner, Albert Sidney Johnston, Joseph 
E. Johnston, Lee, Bragg, McCulloch, Hardee and 
Emory — but one was of Northern birth, Sumner, 
the colonel of the First Cavalry." The preponder- 
ance of Southern men in these regiments suggests, 
at least, the possibility that the Secretary of War 
may have had a forecast of the approaching con- 
flict, and that he may have had some consideration 
of the advantages which might result from having 
Southern men in high stations in that emergency. 

Whether or not. however, other motives than 
the orood of the service, and his natural desire to 
efficiently officer regiments created during his ad- 
ministration of the War Department, and his espe- 



cial interest in the cavalry arm, actuated Mr. Davis, it 
is certain that the official personnel of the First and 
Second Cavalry was unsurpassed for bravery and 
ability by that of any other regiments in the army.^"^ 

McCulloch havinof declined the commission as 
major because of his chagrin at not receiving the 
colonelcy for which he had asked/^ John Sedgwick 
was appointed in his stead; and Bragg, intending to 
quit the service, having also declined the appoint- 
ment as major in the First Cavalry, Major Emory, 
of the Second, was transferred, and to the position 
thus vacated, Captain Thomas was promoted upon 
the suggestion of Captain Bragg, who in declining 
the commission, said that he did not know a better 
man for the place than George H. Thomas.^"* 

Major Thomas joined his new regiment at Jeffer- 
son Barracks, Missouri, and accompanied it when 
it began its march to Texas ; but before reaching its 
destined field he was detached upon court-martial 
duty, and subsequently was detailed for recruiting 
service in New York City. He rejoined his regi- 
ment in Texas in May, 1856, and commanded it 
from October 21st, 1857, to November 12th, i860. 
During this period, he escorted the Texas Indians 
from Camp Cooper to their new location in the 
Indian Territory, commanded an expedition to the 
Red River country, and another to the head-waters 
of the Colorado River. In this latter expedition 



10 

he received the only wound that he sustained in 
his entire service, being shot through the face by 
the arrow of a hostile Indian.^^ 

In November, i860. Major Thomas availed him- 
self of a leave of absence — his second in twenty 
years. ^*' This leave had no relation to the threaten- 
ing aspect of National affairs, having been applied 
for three months prior to the Presidential election," 
and also before the State elections that were to 
precede it and indicate its result. 

On his way to Washington he was seriously 
injured in a railroad accident that occurred near 
Norfolk. So severe was the injury that he was 
unable to travel for six weeks, and it is believed 
that he never entirely recovered from the effect, 
and for some time it was apprehended that he 
would never again be able to perform field duty.^^ 

Whilst still suffering from this injury, Major 
Thomas read the following advertisement in the 
"National Intelligencer": 

"To the Graduates of the U. S. Military Acad- 
emy: — A Commandant of Cadets and Instructor 
of Tactics is wanted for the Virginia Military Insti- 
tute. The situation is an eligible one, and should 
command the best talents and accomplishments. 
Address the undersigned, at Lexington, Virginia, 
until the 20th of January, 1861'. 

Francis H. Smith, Superintendent."^® 



II 

And fearing" that it would be necessary for him 
"to be looking up some means of support," he 
wrote a letter to Colonel Smith on the i8th of 
January, 1861, asking the salary and allowances 
pertaining to the situation.'^" 

This letter, written three months before Virginia 
had passed its ordinance of secession, before a 
single army officer from that State, and when but 
three from the other Southern States, had resigned 
because of the Rebellion, when war was regarded 
as but remotely possible, not as a probability, is 
the sole basis for the charge that Thomas sought a 
position in the service of V'irginia because he was 
unwilling to draw his sword "against any State 
struggling for its constitutional rights.'"'^ 

It is impossible for us of the North, who entered 
the war not merely in accordance with inclination, 
or in obedience to duty or stimulated by the exam- 
ple of our brothers, but impelled by the mighty 
current of the great uprising, to appreciate the trial 
to which the war brought officers of Southern 
birth. 

However much we may condemn Lee and the 
Johnstons and their associates who resigned their 
commissions to take part in the Rebellion, we can 
do them the justice to believe that their action was 
not determined without sorrow, and that it cost 
them no little pain to take arms against the Gov- 



12 

ernment they had long and honorably served. 
And yet, however much they may have deprecated 
the resort to arms, however unnecessary they may 
have reo^arded the secession movement, ' however 
great the sacrifice they made, they were upheld, by 
their belief in the rights of the States as against the 
Nation, they were encouraged by the approba- 
tion of their friends, sustained by the action of 
their States, the arguments of political leaders, and 
the positive course of the Confederate authorities, 
and doubtless were influenced by the apparent 
vacillation of the National Administration. 

And their trial was light compared with the 
ordeal sustained by the Southern-born officers who, 
despite friends and family, specious argument, 
pressing invitation and strong denunciation, re- 
mained true to the Government whose uniform 
they wore, whose flag they were pledged to defend. 

Major Thomas was a Southern man ; of his 
twenty years of service since he attained his first 
commission, fifteen had been passed in the Southern 
States, or on their border ; his army association 
was principally with Southern men ; his immediate 
superiors, during a large part of his military life, 
were men of great influence and ability, who were 
destined to hold high rank in the armies of the 
Rebellion f^ a junior captain of artillery, with forty 
numbers between him and the next grade, he had 



13 

been appointed major of cavalry at the suggestion 
of Braxton Bragg, with the approval of Samuel 
Cooper and the recommendation of Jefferson Davis ; 
doubtless, high command would be given an officer 
of his rank and proven ability if he gave his sword 
to his State; already he had been "spoken of by 
several ol the secession members ot the convention 
as the fit man to be general of the forces of Vir- 
ginia should she secede. "^^ 

A Virginian by birth, he was justly proud of his 
native State, and was bound to it by strong and 
influential ties. Sharing the opinion prevalent in 
the army, and in the South, and largely entertained 
in the North, that the difficulties which threatened 
the National existence resulted from Northern 
fanaticism and unwarrantable interference with the 
domestic institutions of the slave-holding States, he 
believed that these States had just cause of com- 
plaint, and his sympathy was with the people of 
the South. 

To refuse the call of his State, to remain in the 
National service, was to antagonize his friends, to 
be alienated from his kindred, to be banished from 
his boyhood's home. 

The North had never been friendly to the army, 
he could hope for no preferment beyond that which 
would come in the proverbially slow course of pro- 
motion ; the National Government was waiting the 



14 

development of events, and had not yet manifested 
a determined plan of action ; Northern papers were 
advising peaceable dissolution, Northern politicians 
and Northern business-men were protesting against 
armed enforcement of the laws ; the impending 
rebellion seemed destined to become a triumphant 
revolution. 

On the one hand were ambition, sympathy, 
friends, family, home. State ; on the other, his obli- 
gation as a soldier. What anguish he endured in 
this crisis we cannot know. But for George H. 
Thomas the conflict between feeling and duty 
could have but one issue, he could not break his 
plighted faith ; he must be true to his flag. 

"I have thought it all over and I shall stand firm 
in the service of the Government."-* 

His decision was made, never to be recalled, and 
as heretofore he had been faithful, so henceforth 
was his allegiance to the Nation. He stipulated no 
price, he sought no reward, he prescribed no con- 
ditions, he asked no concessions. His loyalty 
was genuine and whole-hearted, and throughout 
the war, whether on the Potomac or the Tennes- 
see, or the Cumberland, the country had no servant 
more devoted, no soldier more patriotic than this 
Virginian. 

Whatever expectations Virginians may have 
entertained concerning his purpose in the coming 
conflict were speedily to be dispelled. 



15 

On the loth of April. 1861, less than half of his 
leave of absence having expired, he was ordered to 
assume command of his regiment upon its arrival 
from Texas. Had he been unwilling to perform 
this duty, or had he desired to postpone assertion 
of his purpose until his State had determined her 
position, a surgeon's certificate of disability would 
have had ready justification in his recent injury, and 
furnished easy opportunity to avoid the duty without 
making known his ultimate intention. But when 
the first detachment of the Second Cavalry reached 
New York, Major Thomas was awaiting its arrival. 
He dispatched two companies to Washington, con- 
ducted the others to Carlisle Barracks, and at once 
applied himself to refitting them for the field. 

On the 1 2th of April — the day that Fort Sumter 
was fired upon — he wrote to his wife, reiterating 
his determination to abide by the Government. 
Two days later he announced his purpose to his 
sisters in Virginia, and thereafter all intercourse 
with them ceased. ^'^ 

Whilst stationed at Carlisle, he received a tele- 
gram from Fitz John Porter, assistant adjutant- 
general, directing Major Thomas and Major Gra- 
ham, "by authority of General Scott," to send to 
Harrisburg under an officer of highest rank, four 
companies, armed and equipped, and with four 
days' rations in haversacks. Thomas was the 



i6 

senior officer at Carlisle, and could have complied 
by sending Graham widi die troops ; but he 
replied, "I will go with my entire force, as effi- 
ciently equipped as the means we have will per- 
mit ; " and on the 2 ist of April, four days after the 
Virginia convention had passed the ordinance of 
secession, Thomas reported for service.'^''. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Lee having been promoted 
colonel of the First Cavalry in place of Sumner, 
appointed brigadier-general. Major Sedgwick suc- 
ceeded to the lieutenant-colonelcy of the Second, 
and when Lee resigned his commission, to the 
colonelcy of the First. To fill the vacancy so made, 
Thomas was promoted lieutenant-colonel, to rank 
from April 25th, and on May 3d, cplonel, ''vice 
Johnston, resigned." 

These promotions were made in ordinary course, 
their rapidity being caused by the resignation of 
four'"^^ of the six field-officers of cavalry who were 
senior to himself 

In July, 1 86 1, the Virginia convention ordained 
that any native of the State who should hold office 
under the United States Government after the thirty- 
first of that month, should be forever banished from 
the State and considered an alien enemy. During 
that month, in command of a brigade of National 
troops, Colonel Thomas crossed the Potomac, and 
had his first encounter with the insurgent forces on 
the soil of his native State. 



17 

The Department of the Cumberland, comprising 
the States of Kentucky and Tennessee, was consti- 
tuted on the 15th of August, 1861, and General 
Robert Anderson assigned to the command. Upon 
his recommendation and request, Colonel Thomas 
was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers, Au- 
gust 17 th, and assigned to duty in the new depart- 
ment, with which his services were to be identified 
until the end of the war. 

This appointment was not made as a reward for 
his loyalty, nor as an incentive for him to persist in 
his adherence to the Government ; on the con- 
trary. General Sherman, in his "Memoirs,"-^ states 
that the President was reluctant to accede to the 
request for the appointment of Thomas, "because 
so many Southern officers had already played false," 
but yielded because of Anderson's insistance and 
Sherman's emphatic assurance that Thomas was to 
be depended upon. 

The commissions of fifty of the brigadier-gener- 
als of volunteers, appointed in r86i, antedated the 
commission of General Thomas. Thirty-four of 
these were appointed from civil life.^^ Of the six- 
teen who were already in the army when appointed, 
but five were his seniors in service,'^" and all were 
his juniors in rank, — two having but recently 
served under him as captains in his regiment. '^^ 

There had been nothing extraordinary in his 



several promotions ; five of the seven commissions 
that he had thus far received had been conferred 
in obedience to the Army Regulations, in con- 
formity with which the opportunity foF the others 
was also afforded by the increase of the army ; and 
he had received these commissions, not through 
political influence, but upon the recommendation of 
his brother officers. 

His first service in Kentucky was at Camp Dick 
Robinson, where he organized the first brigades 
of the Army of the Cumberland. 

In January, 1862, at Mill .Springs, commanding a 
division of the Army of the Ohio, General Thomas 
struck the key-note of his career in the War of the 
Rebellion, for the success he there achieved was the 
initiative of the unbroken series of victories which 
culminated at Nashville. Compared with the great 
battles that followed ere the year ended, this action 
now seems insignificant ; but remembering that it 
was the first important victory of our land forces to 
break the dispiriting inaction which followed Ball's 
Bluff, its value in encouraging the army and the 
people can hardly be overestimated ; nor were its 
material results insignificant, for it dispersed the 
rebel Army of Kentucky, and secured that .State 
to the National Government. 

Upon the recommendation of General Halleck, 
Thomas was appointed major-general of volun- 



19 

teers, April 25th, 1862. In the operations about 
Corinth he commanded the right wing of the Army 
of the Tennessee ; but beingf relieved at his own 
request, he returned to his division in the Army of 
the Ohio, and participated in its campaign under 
General Buell, and during the advance from Louis- 
ville was "second in command." 

When General Rosecrans assumed command of 
the department, its former name "of the Cumber- 
land " was resumed, and the army designated as the 
Fourteenth Corps, General Thomas being assigned 
the command of the five divisions comprising the 
" Centre." At Stone River he bore important part, 
and by his prudence and courage aided largely to 
secure the triumph in which that battle ended. 

Commanding the Fourteenth Corps he contrib- 
uted much to the success of the brilliant campaign 
of Rosecrans that carried our army from Murfrees- 
boro' to Chattanooga. And when Bragg, obedient 
to the commands of the alarmed authorities at Rich- 
mond, with ranks strengthened by accessions from 
Virginia and Mississippi, turned upon the adversary 
who had forced him from the banks of the C\im- 
berland to beyond the Tennessee, it was Thomas 
who saved the Army of the Cumberland and frus- 
trated the rebel attempt to recover Chattanooga. 
Disappointed through the failure of subordinates in 
the purpose to strike Rosecrans' corps in the 



20 

isolation that had followed their passage of the 
mountain barrier, Bragg was nevertheless confi- 
dent that he could crush his adversary's left and 
gain the road in rear to Chattanooga. But he was 
fated to be again disappointed. In expectation 
that the enemy's attack would be made on the left, 
Thomas had been transferred to that Hank from 
his usual position in the centre ; reconnoitering 
his front in force, he opened the battle, thus depriv- 
ing Bragg of the initiative that he had intended to 
deliver. Instead of crushing the left of the Army 
of the Cumberland, the rebel leader found his own 
right in danger of destruction. The battle so 
begun, swept along the wdiole line but was heaviest 
upon the opposing flanks first engaged, which had 
been strongly re-enforced. Night closed a series 
of bloody charges and countercharges that had 
resulted in no material advantage to either side, 
the preponderance however being with the National 
army. The battle was renewed upon the morrow, 
the valiant assaults of the enemy, being met with 
equal valor by our troops in defence and counter- 
assault ; here and there an impression was made 
upon our line, but no vital advantage was gained 
by the rebels until noon, when the great catastrophe 
befell our right. The pressure of the exultant en- 
emy upon the now exposed right first indicated to 
Thomas that some great calamity had overtaken 



21 



the army. Ignorant of the extent of the disaster, 
but (^qual to the greatest emergence, he disposed 
his line to meet the new danger. The fierce onset 
that swept the right and centre in confusion from 
the field, carrying with them in rout the commander 
of the army and the commanders of two of the 
corps, was powerless to drive the left where Thomas 
stood at bay. ("lathering about him the troops re- 
maining on the field he repelled every assault of the 
now doubly outnumbering foe. Inspired by his in- 
domitable will and imperturbable courage, the fast 
thinning line seemed to grow stronger as contract- 
ing it drew nearer its leader. From noon till night, 
the battle-storm raged in fury — but all unmoved 
stood the "Rock of Chickamauga." In this evil 
day he was able to withstand — and, having done 
all, to stand. 

Chattanooga was saved, and the results of the 
summer's campaign secured by Thomas' stand at 
Chickamauga ; but a new danger threatened the 
Army of the Cumberland. Separated from its base 
of supplies by one hundred and fifty miles of hostile 
country ; its only communication a dilapidated rail- 
road, with terminus thirty miles distant ; the direct 
wagon-road to that terminus commanded by the 
enemy, and the trains compelled to make a circuit 
of sixty miles across the mountains ; rail~ and wagon- 
roads alike open to the frequent raids of the en- 



22 

emy's cavalry ; pent in the little town by the rebel 
line entrenched on the amphitheatre of hills, each 
flank restino- on the Tennessee ; starvation or the 
abandonment of the town seemed inevitable. So 
imminent was the peril, that when Grant was 
appointed to the command of the western armies 
he telegraphed to Thomas, now the commander of 
the Army of the Cumberland, " Hold Chattanooga 
at all hazards." With full knowledge of the import 
of the words, Thomas immediately replied, "We 
will hold. the town till we starve." But he did not 
supinely await the impending fate, for within a few 
days after his accession to the command he executed 
plans that greatly bettered his communications and 
relieved his army from its dangerous privation. 

In the battles of November that raised the siege 
of Chattanooga, and relieved Burnside at Knox- 
ville, Thomas' command demonstrated that though 
it had yielded the field at Chickamauga and starved 
in the trenches at Chattanooga, it had not lost con- 
fidence in itself or faith in its leader. On the right 
under Hooker, soldiers of the Army of the Cum- 
berland uniting with soldiers from the Potomac 
and the Tennessee carried the heights of Lookout. 
On the left, under Sherman, soldiers of the Cum- 
berland with other soldiers from the Potomac 
united with- the Army of the Tennessee in the 
attack on the ridge. In the centre under Thomas, 



23 

the Army of the Cumberland in glorious array 
swept across the intervening plain, drove the rebels 
from the pits at the base of Mission Ridge, thence 
self-impelled, climbed its rocky slopes and forced 
the enemy from his entrenchments, across the 
Chickamauga, far back into Georgia. 

On the 27th of October, 1863, he was appointed 
brigadier-general in the United States Army. 

In the spring campaign of 1864, Thomas' army 
comprised three-fifths of Sherman's active com- 
mand, and his guns thundering against the rocky 
defences of Dalton began the four months of fight- 
ing that ended when at Jonesboro' his troops cap- 
tured Atlanta. 

And when Sherman, pondering the problem of 
utilizing his \-ictory, and being aided to speedy solu- 
tion by Hoods northward movement, determined 
upon the March to the Sea, it was to Thomas he 
entrusted the task of confronting the enemy who 
had so long and stubbornly resisted the combined 
armies of the ( )hio, Tennessee and Cumberland. 

How great was the trust, how important to the 
Nation, how necessary to Sherman its successful 
execution, ma\- be conceived if w^e imagine the 
result had Thomas ]3roved unequal to the task. 
Had he failed, the fruits of the Chattanooga and 
Atlanta campaigns — fruits garnered at tremendous 
cost — would have been completely wasted, whilst 



24 

between Hood's legions and die Nordi only the 
Ohio would have interposed. Had Thomas failed, 
Sherman, instead of being esteemed the most 
brilliant of our generals, would have been judged 
the most hopelessly incompetent ; the great march 
would have been the farce of our history, if, in- 
deed, it had not proved its darkest tragedy. But 
the trust was not greater than the man to whom it 
was given ; failure had not yet been written against 
any undertaking of his, and never was to be. 
Hence, when Sherman reached the sea, he learned 
that his coastward march had been approved by 
Thomas' entire success, and with natural exultation 
he issued his order declaringf "the armies servinof 
in Georgia and Tennessee * * * * alike 
entitled to the common honors," and authorizino- 
each regiment to inscribe on its colors at will either 
"Savannah" or "Nashville"*" — a concession, how- 
ever valued by the men who shared the pleasures 
of the holiday march through Georgia, not so 
highly esteemed by the men who fought at Frank- 
lin and at Nashville, 

The forces with which General Thomas was to 
encounter Hood comprised two of the six corps 
that had made the Atlanta campaign, two divisions 
that were to come from Missouri, the garrisons of 
the various posts along the Chattanooga road, and 
the convalescents and furloughed men en route to 



25 

their several commands. The Fourth and Twenty- 
third Corps having- defeated Hood at Franklin in his 
attempt to cut them off. made good their march to 
Nashville, where Thomas had ordered the concen- 
tration of his troops. Calmly awaiting his oppor- 
tunity, he perfected his arrangements and organized 
his arm)', purposing not merely the repulse but the 
destruction of the enemy. Day after day passed 
in seeming inaction, Hood meanwhile pressing close 
upon the entrenchments of the town in the sem- 
blance of a siege ; but each day was making Thomas' 
preparations more thorough and adding to his effec- 
tive strength. Misunderstanding the causes of the 
delay, not realizing the difficulties attending the 
organization of an army in the presence of a foe 
numericall)- greater, and, above all, failing to appre- 
ciate the character of Thomas, the authorities at 
Washington and the Lieutenant-General grew im- 
patient and telegraphed again and again, urging 
immediate action. Knowing the issues involved, 
comprehending the situation with all its surround- 
ings, General Thomas was not shaken in his pur- 
pose by the vexation and importunities of his supe- 
riors, or by the threats of removal from command. 

'T can only say that I have done all in my power 
to prepare, and if you should deem it necessary to 
relieve me, I shall submit without a murmur. "^'^ 

Resolute in his conviction of duty, he postponed 



26 



aggressive movements until his matured judgment 
assured him that the hour for action had come. 
Meanwhile, so great was the impatience of (General 
Grant that he left City Point en route for Nashville, 
only, however, to learn at Washington that Thomas 
had moved upon the enemy with results that more 
than justified his deliberation, and that forever vin- 
dicated his judgment. 

With an army "hastily made up from the frag- 
ments ot three separate commands," General 
Thomas had contended successfully "against a 
force numerically greater than" his own, "and of 
more thoroughly solid organization," and had m- 
fiicted upon his enemy a defeat so crushing as to be 
virtually annihilation.'** 

The Army of the Cumberland, that under Thomas 
had iought its first battle among the hills whose 
name it bore, that had won Chattanooga on the 
Tennessee, and had penetrated far into Georgia, 
had turned back at last to its earlier fields, and 
under the same great leader, swept an army out of 
being at Nashville on the Cumberland. 

So complete was the victory that no formidable 
force of the enemy remained to engage General 
Thomas' army, and the larger part of his infantry 
was transferred to eastern fields, whilst his cavalry 
swept east, west and south in the vain endeavor to 
find an organized foe. So thoroughly had the har- 



vest been garnered that nousj^ht remained for the 
gleaners. The enemy had vanished, and the war 
was ended in the Department of the Cumberland. 

General Thomas was promoted to be major- 
general in the United States Army December 15, 
1864. 

Shortly alter the war he was urged by his triends 
to become a candidate for the Presidency in 1868, 
but he positively refused. He again declined, when 
a tew years later he was asked to allow his name to 
be proposed for the candidacy in 1872. In a letter 
referring to the subject, written three weeks before 
his death, ht; said, "My services are now, as they 
have always been, subject to the call of the Gov- 
ernment in whatever military capacity I may be 
considered competent and worthy to fill, and will 
be cordially undertaken whenever called upon to 
render them. All civil honors and duties I shall 
continue to decline." In the same letter he asked 
"Is it not rather early to begin to look for another 
Republican candidate for the next Presidential 
term?" and added "Grant is still young, has not, 
"as yet, committed any serious mistake, and if he 
continues steadfast to the principles enunciated at 
his inaugural, will be entitled to the second term, 
or at least to the nomination, as an expression ol 
the approbation of the party for his past services. "'^^ 

During the troublous years which followed the 



28 

war, he held important commands, manifesting- in 
each the fidelity, firmness and ciiscretion that had 
characterized his whole career ; that he appreciated 
the difificulties in the military government of the 
States lately in rebellion is shown by his official 
reports, and by his testimony before the Congres- 
sional Committee on Reconstruction; and his orders 
show that he was neither appalled by these difificul- 
ties nor incompetent to meet them. 

His several commands from 1865 to the spring 
of 1869, were designated respectively as the De- 
partment of the Cumberland, the Military Division 
of the Tennessee, the Department of the Tennes- 
see, and again the Department of the Cumberland, 
and varied in their territorial extent, but always 
included the States of Kentucky and Tennessee. 
His head-quarters were maintained at Nashville 
until November, 1866, then transferred to Louis- 
ville, where they remained until May 15th, 1869, 
when he was appointed to command the Military 
Division of the Pacific. This was his last assign- 
ment, — he died at his post in San Francisco on the 
28th day of March, 1870. * 

General Thomas passed through every grade in 
the military service of his country, from second 
lieutenant to major-general. 

In the history of the war it is recorded that he 



29 

saved an army at Chickamauga, that he destroyed 
the army of his enemy at Nashville. 

He shrank from no duty, however arduous or 
distasteful ; he asked no favors, he sought no ad- 
vancenient ; the protege of no politician, the favor- 
ite ot no party, he earned every step of his promo- 
tion by faithful, intelligent, able service. 

Not only did he never seek advancement, he re- 
fused to receive it when he believed its acceptance 
involved injustice to others, or when it came in any 
form other than as the earned reward of duty. 
In 1862, he relinquished command of the right wing 
of the Army of the Tennessee and returned to the 
command of a division, because he had learned that 
General Grant, whom he had superseded in the for- 
mer position, felt aggrieved.^'' In September of 
that year he declined the proffered command of the 
Army of the Ohio, urging the retention of General 
Buell. And in 1868, when President Johnson 
nominated him to the Senate for the brevet commis- 
sions of lieutenant-general and general, Thomas re- 
quested the recall of the nomination because he had 
"done no service since the war to deserve so high 
a compliment," and it was "now^ too late to be re- 
garded as a compliment if conferred for services 
during the war."'^' 

He refused to receive the presents wherein his 
admirers sought to give expression to their regard. 



30 

These were declined, not because he had been so 
favored by fortune that the proffered gifts were of 
no moment to him, nor because he failed to appre- 
ciate the kindly motives which prompted the tender ; 
but because his sense of duty prohibited him from 
accepting any compensation for his services other 
than that which attached to his position. In 1865, 
upon learning that it was the purpose of some of 
his friends to raise a large sum of money to be 
given him as an evidence of their gratitude for his 
services, he wrote as follows to the author of the 
testimonial : 

"Whilst I am duly and profoundly sensible of the 
high compliment thus proposed to be paid me, I 
would greatly prefer, and, if not premature, request 
that any sum which may be raised for that purpose 
be devoted to the founding of a fund for the relief 
of disabled soldiers, and of the indigent widows and 
orphans ot officers and soldiers who have lost their 
lives during the war. I am amply rewarded when 
assured that my humble services have met with the 
approbation of the Government and the people. "■^'* 

He appreciated the approbation of his official 
superiors, and he was not insensible to the praise 
of the people, but he tourted neither. 

He was keenly sensitive to injustice, but never 
allowed slight or wrong to defiect him from his duty. 
He served to-day as loyally under the man he yester- 



31 

clay commanded as though he had never known die 
change. He beheld his junior in years, in rank and 
in service, chosen before him to high honor ; and 
though his great heart felt the wound, no sense of 
personal injury swerved him from his devotion. 
Not once, not twice, but always, not for himself, 
but for his country. 

Simple and modest, he shunned notoriety, and 
never sought to magnify his own achievements. 
No eccentricities of character made him the fre- 
quent subject of anecdote and jest ; no swelling 
phrases and pompous declarations announced in- 
tention in advance of performance, and no special 
correspondent attached to head-quarters was 
charged to write up his deeds and to fill the news- 
paper press with the statements of his views, pur- 
poses and plans. His actions were ever louder 
than his words. He had girded on the harness 
never to put it off, and boasted himself — never. 

Grave and dignified, he tolerated no unsoldierly 
familiarities ; he resorted to no theatrical expedients 
to gain favor with his troops. 

Kind and considerate, he revealed his love for 
his men not by relaxing discipline, not by effusive 
proclamation, but by watchful care for their well- 
being, and by jealous regard for their fame. They 
loved him for what he was with devotion resulting 
from confidence in his ability and from faith in his 



32 

integrity. Their affection displayed itself not so 
much in the swinging" of hats and the hearty hurrahs 
when he rode along the lines, as in the soldierly 
position instinctively assumed, and the soldier's 
salute instinctively given in the presence of the 
leader they revered and loved, and that affection 
had its highest attestation in the unbounded trust 
that each man reposed in the General. 

He valued the lives of his men, and never sacri- 
ficed them in tentative movements to satisfy the 
popular demand for action, or to fancied necessity 
for the improvement of their morale ; but no regard 
for their lives, or for his own, lessened the vigor of 
his assault or the tenacity of his defence when the 
Nation's life demanded the sacrifice. 

Painstaking and exact, he neglected no details 
however apparently trivial, when upon them might 
rest the issue of a battle, and he assumed no risk 
against which care and precaution could guard. 

Systematic and thorough, his victories were 
neither successful experiments nor lucky accidents, 
but the logical result of deliberate plan and of effec- 
•tive execution ; his battles were not games of hazard, 
but probl-ems successfully solved. 

He was prudent in judgment and powerful in 
action. Deliberate in thought — by some deemed 
slow — decision formed was manifested in prompt 
and energetic accomplishment. 



33 

Firm in his convictions of right, he was unyield- 
intr in his adherence to duty, whether resisting- the 
assault of a rebel army, as at Chickamauga, or with- 
standing the pressure of impatient superiors and the 
anxiety of an alarmed people, as at Nashville. 

Self-controlled in camp, on march and in field, he 
was unimpassioned alike in the flush of victory or in 
the gloom of threatened defeat ; though unmoved 
by injustice to himself, he was capable of a mighty 
wrath when wrong to others, or reckless exposure 
of troops, or cowardice, provoked his righteous 
indignation. 

His affections, though undemonstrative, were 
strong anci true, and they who were honored by 
his friendship had ample proof of its sincerity. 

Heroic in form and feature — fitting embodi- 
ment of the man — his pre.sence inspired the confi- 
dence and respect that his great qualities main- 
tained. 

Nothing in his private life or character detracts 
from his soldierly merits or clouds his well-earned 
fame. No weakness or pettiness belittles him. 
Admiration for his character grows w^ith increasing 
familiarity with his life, hence those who knew him 
best loved him most. 

Pure-minded and clean-handed, brave and skill- 
ful, honest and magnanimous, he was in truth 
without fear and without reproach. 



34 

Complete and symmetrical, the character of 
General Thomas combined all the virtues and 
graces that unite in the great soldier and true gen- 
tleman. 

In the Nation's capital the soldiers he commanded 
have erected a magnificent memorial of their mag- 
nificent leader ; and the noble figure steadfastly 
gazing across the historic river to the hills of his 
native Virginia shall mutely tell the story of his life 
to the generations yet to come. 

But hio^her than the highest rank, greater than 
his greatest achievement, grander than the artist's 
grand conception, more enduring than its bronze, 
more solid than its granite, is the character of the 
man. When the history of the war shall have 
ceased to interest any save the student, when the 
bronze figure shall have corroded, and the granite 
pedestal crumbled to dust, the influence of that life 
shall still endure, and loyalty, honor and duty shall 
have had no higher embodiment than in the life and 
character of 

GEORGE HENRY THOMAS. 



NOTES. 



I . See Appendix A. 
I 2. "The Origin, Progress and Conclusion of the Florida 
War." John T. Sprague, U. S. A., p. 556. 

3. Senate Document No. i, 2d Session, 29th Congress, 

p. 98. 

4. Report of General Taylor, Executive Document No. 

I, Senate, ist Session, 30th Congress, p. 138. 

5. Executive Document No. i, Senate, 1st Session, 

30th Congress, p. 150. 

6. "The Battle of Buena Vista," James H. Carleton, 

U. S. A., p. 112. 

7. Executive Document No. i. Senate, ist Session, 

30th Congress, pp. 139 and 150. 
<S. Ibid. p. 205. 
9. " Life of Major-General George H. Thomas," Thos. 

B. Van Home, U. S. A., pp. 7-8. 

10. "The Rise and Fall of the Con,federate Govern- 

ment," Jefferson Davis, vol. i, pp. 23-4. 

11. Official Army Register, August i, 1855. 

1 2. See Appendix B. 

13. 'Life of General Albert Sidney Johnston," William 

P. Johnston, p. 185. 

14. "Across the Continent with the Fifth Cavalry," 

George F. Price, U. S. A., p. 28. 
35 



36 

15- Report (mss.) of Major George H. Thomas, August 
31, i860. 

16. His first leave of absence was from February i, to 

August I, 1849, and was given after nearly ten 
years of service, more than half of which had 
been in Florida and' Mexico and on the Rio 
Grande. 

17. Special Order, No. 178, par. 5, War Dept. A. G. O., 

August 28, i860. 

18. Van Home, Life of Thomas, pp. 19, 20 and 23. 

19. Daily National Intelligencer, Washington, D. C, 

January 12, 1861. 

20. Richmond Dispatch, July 7, 1870. 

21. New York Herald, December 31, 1875. 

22. See Appendix C. 

23. General D. H. Maury in Southern Historical Society 

Papers, vol. 10, p. 524. 

24. Letter of General Sherman quoted by General James 

A. Garfield in " Oration on the Life and Character 
of General George H. Thomas," p. 16. 

25. General H. V. Boynton in Washington National 

Republican, June i, 1883. 

26. Report (mss.) of F. J. Porter, A. A. G., May I, 1861, 

and Dispatches relating to Harrisburg Expedition, 
1861. 

27. Colonels A. S. Johnston and Lee, and Lieutenant- 

Colonels Hardee and Emory. Lieutenant-Colonel 
Emory's resignation was tendered through misap- 
prehension (Price, Fifth Cavalry, pp. 213-5,) and 
he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the Third 
Cavalry, March 14, 186 1. 



37 

28. "Memoirs of General William T. Sherman, by Him- 

self," pp. 192-3. 

29. General Order, No. 62, War Department, A. G. O., 

August 20, 1 86 1. 

30. Hunter, Heintzelman. Keyes, Thomas W. Sherman 

and Benham. 

31. Oakes and Stoneman. 

32. Special Field Order, No. 6, Military Division of the 

Mississippi, January 8, 1865. 

33. Dispatch of General Thomas to General Grant, 

December 9, 1 864. 

34. Report of General Thomas, Supplemental Report of 

the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War ; 
vol. I, p. 382. 

35. Letter to John Tyler, Jr., March 8, 1870, Van 

Home, Life of Thomas, pp. 422-3, 

36. Van Home, Life of Thomas, pp. 64 and 85. 

37. Ibid. pp. 420-1. 

38. Letter to Editor of Cincinnati Commercial, January 

17, 1865, reprinted in Biographical Sketch of 
General Thomas, United States Service Magazine, 
vol. V, p. 15. 



APPENDIX. 



The following outline of the Military History of Gen- 
eral George H. Thomas is based upon a revision of the 
statement of his services and promotions in General 
CuUum's Biographical Register of the Officers and 
Graduates of the U. S. Military Academy, but contains 
many additional details for which I am indebted to 
Brigadier-General Richard C. Drum, Adjutant-General 
of the Army. W. H. L. 

GEORGE HENRY THOMAS 

BOKN IN SOUTHAMPTON COUNTY, VIRGINIA, JULY 3 I, I 8 I 6. 

Appointed from Virginia to the United States Military 
Academy at West Point, New York. 

Cadet from July i, 1836, to July i, 1840, when he was 
graduated — number 12 in a class of 42 — and promoted 
in the Army to 

SECOND LIEUTENANT, THIRD ARTILLERY, JULY I, 184O. 

Company D, July i, I'^Afi-Dccemher 31, 1843. 

On graduating leave to September 30, 1840. 
In garrison at Fort Columbus, New York, to Novem- 
ber 23, 1840. 

38 



39 

Florida War, December 9, 1840, to February 6, 1842 ; 
joined company D at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Decem- 
ber 9, 1 840 -post until December, 1 841, -in July, 1841, 
was acting assistant commissary of subsistence and act- 
ing assistant quartermaster, Fort Lauderdale; in Au- 
ust, 1 84 1, on scout; with Captain Wade in expedition 
against the Seminoles, in which forty-nine Indians were 
captured, November 5-1 1, 1841 ; Tampa Bay, Florida, to 
February 6, 1842. 

brevet first lieutenant, NOVEMBER 6, 1 84 1, FOR GAL- 
LANTRY AND GOOD CONDUCT IN THE WAR AGAINST THE 
FLORIDA INDIANS. 

In garrison at New Orleans, La., to June 30, 1842; 
Fort Moultrie. S. C, to December 5, 1843; 

Company C, December 31, 1843-^///^ 29, 1844. 

FIRST LIEUTENANT, THIRD ARTILLERY, APRIL 30, 1 844. 

Company E, July 29, 1 844-^?^^//^/ 6, 1849. 
Fort McHenry, Md., to October 19, 1844; Fort Moultrie, 
S. C, to February 17, 1845; on recruiting service at 
Charleston, S. C. to March 15, 1845; with regiment at 
Fort Moultrie, S. C, to June 26, 1845. 

Military occupation of Texas and the War with 
Mexico, August, 1845-AuGUST, 1848; en route to Texas 
to August 2, 1845 ; at Corpus Christi, Texas, until March 
II, 1846; en route to the Rio Grande to March 28; on 
the Rio Grande in Texas, until May 17, being engaged 
in the defense of Fort Brown, May 3-9; Matamoras, 
Mexico, until June 6; commanded detachment of com- 
pany in the advance to and at Reynosa and Camargo. 



40 

Mexico, until August 14, when he rejoined company with 
his detachment; at Camargo and en route to Monterey to 
September 19; in battle of Monterey, September 21 -23; 

BREVET CAPTAIN, SEPTEMBER 23, 1 846, FOR GALLANT AND 

MERITORIOUS CONDUCT IN SEVERAL CONFLICTS 

AT MONTEREY, MEXICo! 

commanded company, November 21, 1846, to February 
14, 1847; at Monterey, until December, 1846; in advance 
to and at Victoria, December, 1846-January, 1847; near 
Saltillo, and at Agua Nueva, January-February ; battle 
of Buena Vista, February 22-23; 

BREVET MAJOR, FEBRUARY 23, 1 847, FOR GALLANT 

AND MERITORIOUS CONDUCT IN THE BATTLE 

OF BUENA VISTA, MEXICO. 

at Buena Vista until November 7; on temporary de- 
tached service in the field with company C, Captain 
Braxton Bragg, at Monterey, to February i, 1848, when 
rejoined company E at Buena Vista, where remained 
until June, when at Monterey, in July at Camargo until 
August 3 ; en route to Fort Brown, Texas, to August 
9, 1848. 

On detached service in charge of commissary depot, 
at Brazos Santiago, Texas, August 9, 1848, to February i, 
1849; on leave of absence to August i, 1849; 

CoDipany B, August 6, \^\<:)-Dcccinbcr 24, 1853. 

with regiment at Fort Adams, R. I., to September 1 2, 1 849. 

Hostilities against Seminole Indians; en route to 
and in the field, Florida, September 12, 1849, to Novem- 
ber, 1850; Palatka, October, 1849; Russell's Landing, 



41 

December, 1 849-January, 1850; Fort Vinton, March- 
April; Fort Capron, May; Fort Meade, June; Fort Myers, 
July-November. 

New Orleans, La., November; en route to and at Fort 
Independence, Mass., to March 28, 185 1; on detached 
service at U. S. Military Academy as Instructor of Artil- 
lery and Cavalry, April I, 185 i, to May I, 1854; 

CAPTAIN THIRD ARTILLERY, DECEMBER 24, 1 853. 

Company A, Dcccnibcr 24, I'iy^-May 12, 1855. 
with regiment en route to California via Panama, arrived 
at San Francisco, May 31, 1854; in June commanded a 
battalion of First and Third Artillery en route to Fort 
Yuma, Cal.. arrived there July 14, 1854; 

MAJOR SECOMD CAVALRY, MAY 12, 1 85 5. 

commanded post to July 21, 1855, when relieved from 
duty with the Third Artillery. 

Joined Second Cavalry, September 25, 1855, and served 
with it at Jefferson Barracks, Mo., until October 27 ; en 
route to Texas, and in the field to November 1 1 ; on 
court martial duty at Fort Washita, Ind. Terr., to Jan., 
1856; on recruiting service New York, to May; with 
regiment and commanding Fort Mason, Tex., to Sept. 8 ; 
on court martial duty in Texas, to April 6, 1857; with 
regiment and commanding Fort Mason, Tex., to Novem- 
ber 8, 1857; commanded regiment Oct. 21, 1857, to Nov. 
12, i860, and post of San Antonio, Tex., to Dec. 9, 1857; 
Fort Ma.son, Tex., to June 26, 1858; Fort Belknap, Tex., 
to February 23, 1859; Camp Cooper and in the field, 
Texas, to November 12, i860; commanded escort of 
Texas Indians to their new location in the Indian Territory, 



42 

July 30-August 21, 1859; expedition to head-waters of 
Red and Canadian rivers, October i -November 22, 1859; 
expedition to head-waters of Concho and Colorado rivers, 
July 23-August 30, i860, during which was engaged 
in a skirmish with Indians, August 26, in which he was 
wounded in the face. 

On leave of absence, November 12, i860, to April ii, 
1 861, when he assumed command of regiment at New 
York. 

The War of the Rebellion, 1861-1866; commanded 
regiment until June 3, engaged in reorganizing and equip- 
ping it at Carlisle Barracks, Pa., until May 27, excepting 
April 21-25, when he was at Harrisburg and York, Pa., 
with four companies ; 

lieutenant-colonel second cavalry, APRIL 25, I 86 1. 

colonel second cavalry, may 3, 1 86 1, fifth cavalry, 

AUGUST 3, I 86 1. 

at Chambersburg, Pa., June i ; commanded brigade in 
Department of Pennsylvania, subsequently Department of 
the Shenandoah, July I9-Aug'.ist 26; crossed the Poto- 
mac river into Virginia and engaged in action at Falling 
Waters, or Hoke's Run, Virginia, July 2 ; occupied Mar- 
tinsburg, Va., July 3 ; skirmish at Bunker Hill, Va., 

July 15; 

brigadier-general u. s. volunteers, august 17, 1 86 1. 

reported for duty in Department of the Cumberland at 
Louisville, Ky., September 6; commanded Camp Dick 
Robinson, Ky., September 1 5-October 28, organizing and 
mustering into service Kentucky and Tennessee Volun- 



43 

teers; in advance to Crab Orchard and Lebanon, Ky., 
October 28-November 30; commanded first division 
Army of the Ohio, November 30, 1 861, to April 30, 1862 ; 
at Lebanon, Ky., to December 31; en route to Logan's 
Cross Roads, Ky., to January 17, 1862; in command and 
engaged in battle of Mill Springs, January 19*; movement 
to Nashville, Tenn., z-zV? Somerset, Lebanon and Louisville, 
Ky., January 23-March*^4; Nashville to March 19; on 
march to Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., to April 9; 

ma|or-c;eneral u. s. volunteers, April 25, 1862. 

transferred with his dix'ision to the Army of the Tennes- 
see; commanded right wing of the Army before Corinth, 
Miss., April 30-June 10; in advance upon and Siege of 
Corinth, to May 30; at Corinth, to June 26, being in 
cornmand of town, June 5-22; relieved from command 
of right wing of the Army before Corinth, June 10; 
retransferred with division to Army of the Ohio, June 
22; in General Buell's campaign in Alabama, Tennessee 
and Kentucky, June 26-October 30; at Tuscumbia, Ala., 
guarding Memphis and Charleston railroad to July 25; 
en route to and at Dechard, Tenn., in command to 



"■^'The General Assembly of the State of Ohio resolved, (anuary 25, 
1862, "That General George H. Thomas and Colonels J. A. Garfield and 
R. S. McCook, together with the brave officers and men in their respec- 
tive commands, by their recent victories in Kentucky, have deserved well 
of their country, and are entitled to the thanks of this general assembly, 
and the same are hereby tendered to them, for bravery in battle, and 
glorious victories over the enemies of the Union. 

" That the governor be and he is hereby requested to forward copies of 
this resolution to the officers named in the foregoing resolution, and that 
they be requested to have the same read to their respective commands." 



44 

August 15, when temporarily relieved of command of 
first division of the Army of Ohio; en route to and in 
command at McMinnville, Tenn., to September 3 ; re- 
sumed command of first division Army of the Ohio at 
Nashville, September 5 ; at and in command Nashville, 
September 7-1 5 ; en route to and at Prewitt's Knob, 
Ky.,to September 24; en route to Louisville, Ky., to Sep- 
tember 27; second in command of Army of the Ohio, 
September 30-October 30; at Louisville to October i, 
in advance into Kentucky, October i -November 7, being 
engaged in Battle of Perryville, October 8, in command 
of the right wing of the Army of Ohio, and in pursuit 
of enemy to Barboursville, Ky. 

Commanded the "centre" of the Fourteenth Army 
Corps, November 7, 1862, to February 2, 1863; General 
Buell having been relieved in command of the Army" of 
the Ohio by General Rosecrans, the designation of the 
Department was changed to that of the Cumberland, and 
the troops designated as the Fourteenth Army Corps, Oc- 
tober 30, 1862; on advance to and at Gallatin, Tenn., un- 
til December 22, 1862; at Nashville to December 26; ad- 
vance to and at Murfreesboro, Tenn., to June 24, 1863, 
being engaged in battle of Stone River, December 31, 
1862-January 3, 1863; commanded Fourteenth Army 
Corps, February 2 -October 19; in Middle Tennessee 
campaign, June 24-July 4, action at Hoover's Gap, June 
26, Spring Creek Gap, July i ; in Middle Tennessee to 
August 16; on march to the Tennessee river to August 
30; Chickamauga campaign, September 1-22, battle of 
Chickamauga, September 19-20, Rossville, September 
20; at Chattanooga and vicinity, September 22, 1863 to 
May 6, 1 864. 



45 

BKIGADIER-GENERAL U. S. ARMY, OCTOBER 2/, 1 863. 

Assigned to command of the Department of the Cum- 
berland, reheving General Rosecrans, October 19, 1863; 
engaged In operations for opening communications and 
relief of Chattanooga, October 27-28; battles around 
Chattanooga, Nox'cmber 23-25 ; pursuit of the enemy, 
November 26-28; movement toward Dalton, Ga., Feb- 
ruary 22-25, 1864; in Atlanta, Ga., campaign, May 2- 
September 7, being engaged in operations about Dalton, 
May 7-13, battle of Resaca, May 14- 15, action at Cass- 
ville. May 20, actions about New Hope Church, near 
Dallas, May 25-28, actions about Pine Hill, June 15-16, 
and at Mud and Noses Creeks, June 17- 19, action at 
Gulp's Farm, June 22, battles of Kennesaw Mountain, 
June 27-29, action at Ruff's Station, July 4, cross- 
ing the Chattahoochee river, July 12-17, battle of Peach 
Tree Creek, July 19-21, siege of Atlanta, July 22-Sep- 
tember 2, battle of Jonesboro, September i, and occupa- 
tion of Atlanta, September 2-29; at Nashville, October 3- 
December 16, in charge of affairs in Tennessee, troops 
under his direction being engaged in retarding rebel ad- 
vance under General Hood and in battle of Franklin, 
Tenn. concentrating and organizing troops for attack, 
battle of Nashville, December 15-16, which resulted in 
the utter route of the enemy who was driven across the 
Tennessee river with great loss of men and material. 

MAJOR-GENERAL U. S. ARMY, DECEMBER I 5, 1 864. 

Engaged in organizing various raiding expeditions and 
sending troops to other Departments, December, 1864, 



46 

to May, 1865, which materially contributed to the over- 
throw of the Rebellion.* 

In command of the Military Division of the Tennes- 
see, embracing the Departments of Kentucky, Ten- 
nessee, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, with head- 
quarters at Nashville, June 20, 1865, to August 13, 
1 866 ; — member of Board for recommendation for Bre- 
vets to grades of brigadier and major-general in the 
Regular Army, March 14-24, 1866; — ^of the Department 
of the Tennessee, embracing the States of Kentucky, Ten- 
nessee, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi from- August 
13, 1866, to March ii, 1867, with head-quarters at Nash- 
ville until November 6, 1 866, and at Louisville, Ky., until 
March 16, 1867; assigned to command of the Third Mili- 
tary District (Georgia, Florida and Alabama) March 11, 
but was relieved therefrom, at his own request, March 15, 



*The Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled, resolved, March 3, 1865: 

" That the thanks of Congiess are due, and are hereby tendered, to 
Major-General CJeorge H. Thomas, and the officers and soldiers un- 
der his command, for their skill and dauntless courage, by which the 
rebel army under General Hood was signally defeated and driven from 
the State of Tennessee." 

The General Assembly of the State of Tennessee resolved, Novem- 
ber 2, 1865 : 

"That the thanks of the General Assembly, m their ov\n name and in 
the name of the people of the State of Tennessee, be presented to Major- 
General George H. Thomas, and the officers and soldiers under his com- 
mand, for his wise and spirited, and their brave and patriotic conduct in 
the battle of Nashville, in defense of the capital of the State, in Decem- 
ber, 1864, and that a gold medal be struck in commemoration of the 
great and decisive event, and be presented to him." 



47 

and assigned to command of the Department of the 
Cumberland, head-quarters at Louisville, Ky., to May 15, 
1869; assigned, August 17, 1 867, to command of Fifth 
Military District ( Lousiana and Texas) but was relieved 
therefrom, August 27, because of unfavorable condition 
of health; — president of Court of Inquiry at Washington, 
D. C, in case of Brigadier-General A. B. Dyer, Chief of 
Ordnance. November 9, 1868, to May 15, 1869; — en route 
to and in command of the Military Division of the Pacific, 
head-quarters at San Francisco, Cal., May 15, 1869, to 
March 28, 1870. 

DIED AT SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, MARCH, 28, 187O. 



B. 

Of the officers appointed in 1855 to the First and 
Second Cavalry, Edwin \^'. Sumner, William H. Emory, 
John Sedgwick, George H. Thomas, Thomas J. Wood, 
James Oakes, Innis N. Palmer, George B. McClellan, 
Samuel D. Sturgis, George Stoneman, Jr., Eugene A. 
Carr, Frank Wheaton, Richard W. Johnson, Kenner Gar- 
rard and David S. Stanley were commissioned as general 
officers in the National Army during the Rebellion, and 
Delos B. Sacket, now Brigadier-General and Senior In- 
spector-General of the Army, was the Inspector-General 
of the Army of the Potomac from December, 1861, to 
January, 1863; and Albert S. Johnston, Robert E. Lee, 
Joseph E. Johnston, William J. Hardee, Braxton Bragg, 
Benjamin McCulloch, Robert S. Garnett, Earl Van Dorn, 
Edmund K. Smith, William S. Walker, George B. Ander- 
son, William N. R. Beall, George H. Steuart, James 
Mcintosh, Robert Ransom, Jr., Alfred Iverson. Jr., Nathan 
G. Evans, Charles W. Field, J. E. B. Stuart, George B. 
Cosby, and John B. Hood attained rank as general offi 
cers in the Confederate Army. 



48 



THIRD ARTILLERY. 

FIELD OFFICERS, JULY I, 184O-MAY 12, 1 85 5. 

Colonels. 
Walter K. Armistead, to October 13, 1845. 
William Gates, from October 13, 1845. 

Lieutenant- Colonels. 
William Gates, to October 13, 1845. 
Francis S. Belton, from October 13, 1845. 

Majors. 

Sylvester Churchill, to June 25, 1 841. 

John Erving, June 25, 1 841 -June 27, 1843. 

William L. McClintock, June 27, 1843-October 29, 1848. 

John M. Washington, Feb. 16, 1847-Dec. 24, 1853. 

David Van Ness, October 29, 1 848-February 14, 1849. 

Charles S. Merchant, from February 14, 1849. 

George Nauman, from December 24, 1853. 

COMPANY D, JULY I, 1 84O-DECEMBER 3 I, 1 843. 

Captains. 
Richard B. Lee,* to November 30, 1841. 
Erasmus B. Keyes, from November 30, 1841. 

First Lieutenants. 
Francis O. Wyse, to October 6, 1842. 
William Wall, May 11, 1841-February 9, 1842. 



♦Joined in the Rebellion against the United States. 

49 



so 

Thomas W. Sherman, from February 9, 1842. 
Morris S. Miller, from October 6, 1842. 

Second Lieutenant. 

George H. Thomas, July i, 1 840-December 31, 1843. 

COMPANY C, DECEMBER 3I, I843-JULY 29, 1 844, 

Captain. 
Samuel Ringgold. 

First Lieutenants. 

Edward J. Steptoe, to July 1 1 , 1 844. 
William H. Shover. 

Second Lieutenants. 

George H. Thomas, (First Lieutenant April 30, 1844,) 

December 31, 1843- July 29, 1844. 
George W. Ayers, from July 7, 1844. 

Brevet Second Lieutenants. 

Roswell S. Ripley.* 

Francis J. Thomas, from July 8, 1844. 

COMPANY E, JULY 29, 1844-AUGUST 6, 1849.! 

Captains. 
John A. Thomas, to May 28, 1846. 
Thomas W. Sherman, from May 28, 1 846. 



^Joined in the Rebellion against the United States. 

f During this period Capt. John A. Thomas was not with the company, 
and it was commanded by rst Lieut. Braxton Bragg until November 21, 
1846, when he assumed command of company C. 1st Lieut. George H. 
Thomas succeeded Bragg and retained command until February 14., 1847, 
when Capt. T. W. .Sherman joined for duty, 



5t 

First Lieutenants. 

Braxton Bragg,* to June i8, 1846. 

George H. Thomas, July 29, 1844-August 6, 1849. 

Edward G. Beck with, from June 18, 1846. 

Second Lieutenants. 

John F. Reynolds, to June 18, 1846. 

Stephen G. French,* June 18, 1846-March 3, 1847. 

John H. Heck, June 28, 1848. 

Brevet Seeond Lieutenants. 

Daniel H. Hill,* September 9, to October 13, 1845. 
Roswell S. Ripley,* January, 1846-March 26, 1846. 
Otis H. Tillinghast, August 5, 1847-August 20, 1847. 
John C. Tidball, August 7, 1 848-February 14, 1849. 
Rufus Saxton, from July 5, 1849. 

COMPANY B, AUGUST 6, 1 849-DECEMBER 24, 1853. 

Captains. 

William H. Shover, to September 7, 1850. 
Edward O. C. Ord, from September 7, 1850. 

First Lieutenants. 

Stewart Van Vliet, to December 16, 1852. 

George H. Thomas, August 6, 1849-December 24, 1853. 

Romeyn B. Ayres, from December 16, 1852. 

Second Lieutenants. 

Isaac W. Patton, to June i, 1853. 
John Edwards, Jr., from June i, 1853. 



*Joined in the Rebellion against the United States. 



52 

Brevet Second Lieutenants. 

Edward McK. Hudson, October 22, 1849-Sept. 12, 1850. 
Alexander Piper, July 7, 1851-July 21, 1851. 
James D. Burns, July i, 1853-November i, 1853. 

COMPANY A, DECEMBER 24, 1853-MAY 12, I855. 

Captain. 

George H. Thomas, December 24, 1853-May 12, 1855. 

First Lieutenants. 

John F. Reynolds. 
Edward G. Beckwith. 

Second Lieutenant. 

Sylvester Mowry. 



SECOND CAVALRY. 

FIELD AND COMPANY OFFICERS, JANUARY I, 1861, 

Colonel. 
Albert S. Johnston.* 
Lieutenant- Colonel, 
Robert E. Lee.* 
Majors. 
George H. Thomas. Earl Van Dorn.* 



^Joined in the Rebellion against the United States. 



53 

Captains. 
Edmund K. Smith.* James Oakes. 

Innis N. Palmer. George Stoneman. 

William R. Rradfute.* Albert G. Brackett. 

Charles J. Whiting. Nathan G. Evans.* 

Richard W'. Johnson. Joseph H. McArthur. 

First Lieutenants. 
Charles W. Field.* Kenner Garrard. 

Walter H. Jenifer.* William B. Royall. 

William P. Chambliss. Robert Nelson Eagle. 

John T. Shaaff.* George B. Cosby.* 

William \W. Lowe. John B. Hood.* 

James B. Witherell. 
Second Lieiitenanfs, 
Joseph F. Minter.* Charles W. Phifer.* 

James E. Harrison. A. Parker Porter. 

W'esley Owens. James P. Major.* 

Fitzhugh Lee.* Manning M. Kimmel.* 

George A. Cunningham.* • Abraham K. Arnold. 

Brevet Seco)id Lieutenants. 
Wade H. Gibbes.* John J. Sweet. 

RESIGNATIONS AND OTHER CASUALTIES, MARCH 3, 1855- 

January I, I 86 1. 

Majors. 

William J. Hardee,* promoted Lieutenant-Colonel, First 

Cavalry, June 28, i860. 
William H. Emory, transferred to First Cavalry, May 26, 
1855. 



*Joined in the Rebellion against the United States. 



54 

Captains. 

Theodore O. Hara''' resigned, December i, 1856. 
Charles H Travis, dismissed, May i, 1856. 

Fu'st Lieutenants. 

Alexander H. Cross,* commission expired, May I, 1856. 
Charles Radziminski, died, August 18, 1858. 

Second Lieutenants. 

George B. Anderson,* Second Dragoons, declined ap- 
pointment. 

Nelson B. Svveitzer, First Dragoons, declined appoint- 
ment. 

Edwin R. Merrifield, declined appointment. 

George Hartwell, resigned, August 21, 1855. 

Robert C. Wood, Jr.,* resigned, January i, 1858. 

John Williams, murdered, June 30, 1855. 

Cornelius Van Camp, killed in action with Indians, Octo- 
ber I, 1858. 

Junius B. Wheeler, transferred to Topographical Engi- 
neers, June 27, 1856. 

Brevet Second Lieutenants. 

Albert V. Colburn, promoted Second Lieutenant, First 

Cavalry, (3ctober i, 1855. 
Lunsford L. Lomax,* promoted Second Lieutenant, First 

Cavalry, September 30, 1856. 
John T. Magruder, transferred to First Cavalry, April 24, 

1858. 



*Toined in the Rebellion against the United States. 



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